Forgive me, but that was not my position.
My position, if you re-read my reply, is that:
- There were more than seven churches in the ancient world.
- That does not mean that the problems faced by the seven churches addressed in Refvelation are not relevant even now.
- On the contrary they are.
- I then proceeded to list specific examples of how the problems they faced, such as sexual perversion (specifically I referenced the Nicolaitan heresy) and lukewarm-ness are extremely urgent in many denominations.
If a spirit made the accusation that I had said the warnings to the seven churches in Revelation were not relevant to churches today, then it was a demon that was lying to you.
Nonetheless, the fact you are experiencing this is a particular cross to bear, and I do respect you test them; I am thankful to not have had to deal with that personally.
What you are missing is that all our problems come from not listening to the Lord!!!! And that includes all the problems in churches.
So when I pointed out that all seven churches is Revelation were keeping people from hearing from the Lord, you wanted to express that was not relevant to the other churches and their problems also!! So you wanted to point out different issues without making the connection! You completely failed to connect the issue we have as people, and that is the issue that Adam and Eve had, which was not listening to the Lord.
Now you wanted to turn to the problem of 'sexual perversion'. Why causes that problem, and even in churches???
What causes it is not listening to the Lord. When Adam and Eve didn't listen to the Lord suddenly they realize they were naked! So don't you see that you are missing the connection and importance of each of us connecting to and listening to the Lord personally??? The sexual perversion is not the specific problem, not listening to Him personally is the specific problem, or do you really think He won't bring that up and try to help you when you actually talk to Him? So the "sexual perversion" which you want to label as some type of "Nicolaitan heresy" is an indication that people don't listen to Him, and that from the churches (all of them in one way or another) keeping people from listening to the Lord instead of encouraging them to listen to the Lord.
You completely missed the relevance of what is pointed out in all seven churches being written to having the same problem. They, the seven churches, represent all the churches, having the same main problem!! You played it off as that being a different problem from others at the time. Each of the seven churches, had their own problems, but even then they kind of represented the types of churches, but they also all had the same single issue of not seeking the voice of the Lord and keeping others in their church from seeking Him!
For example:
Rev 2:14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to
commit acts of immorality.
That was a problem that the church in Pergamum had. It is the problem of sexual perversion or
acts of immorality. Yet that was not being pointed out to the church from those inside the church so the reproof "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Rev 2:17) was also given to them. The Lord will point out the issues and reprove us, if we are will to accept it, but
we are not willing to listen to Him because we don't want to hear the reproof!!! That is why each of the churches had the same problem, and all seven of seven is not just those seven churches!!!!
WE DON'T KEEP THE COMMANDMENT "HEAR O' ISRAEL"!!
Ps 81:11 “But My people did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not obey Me.
That still applies to His people today!! Yeah, we have forgiveness of sins, but all sins come from not listening to Him!! We don't listen to Him like we should, and we in various ways keep others in all our churches from listening to Him also!!! That is what the seven churches represented, so do we look to ourselves and our church to figure out how we are getting this wrong????
No, we usually look to others and their faults instead of us and our faults!!!
Yet we are commanded to "preach The Word", but instead of turning people to Jesus Christ as "The Word" so listen to Him, we tell them The Bible is The Word of God, and present ourselves as the experts and they are in some type of heresy. Have we not even read:
1 Jn 1: 8 & 9 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So let me be clear. I confess that I only hear from Him about a dozen different times a day!! When I tell some people that they think I am boasting, but I personally realize that is terrible. He is with me all day, so all day I should be talking back and forth with Him, and the important part of talking back and forth is the hearing from Him!! Yet because I do hear from HIm on those days called "Today", and least this verse is not the big problem for me:
Heb 3:7,8 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME,
AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,
And from listening to Him, He wants me to preach Him as The Word of God for the purpose expressed in the following verse:
Heb 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is
still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Which is, whether you realize is or not, is exactly what and why I have been writing to you all along! Don't brush off the similar message sent to all the churches, because all the churches have that problem!! It stops the reproof the Lord has for us, and He reproves those He loves! And the reproof, if you care to believe, is about hearing Him by faith. That is the one thing needed!
Rev 3:19,20 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Luke 10:42 “But
one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Gal 3:2 This is the
only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
The OP goes over "private interpretations", and that mean personally listening to the Lord our God!! So I like the OP, even if I think it didn't go far enough and suggested that was for meditation at home. We need Him for all the things in our lives, from our marriages, our jobs, our relationships, our kids sports, what to eat, maybe what clothes to wear, where to go and when, and ways to improve our churches! Oh - and let us not forgive our sex lives and possible "sexual perversion"? We wouldn't want any "heresy" going on, right? Or is that just for the other person?
I need to listen to Him more, so He has me preach The Word of God to mean we need to listen to Him, so I don't forget it. Doing that encourages me and others to hear from Him Today, though 'some' don't like that encouragement. And that 'some', sometimes includes me!